And so, here is the list thus far. Obviously many countries are missing. If you have a book for a country either listed here or not listed, please let me know. The books with an asterisk are ones that were suggested didn't look particularly appealing to me, and the ones linked or in italics are ones I've read. So help!
**UPDATED**: Thanks for the suggestions so far. And Robert , who lived in Germany, wants to know if there are any books about Germany that don't feature Nazis.
Afghanistan
The Bookseller of Kabul (Asne Seierstad)
The Kite Runner
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Antarctica
*Decipher (Stel Pavlou)
Argentina
THE MINISTRY OF SPECIAL CASES. By Nathan Englander.
Australia
A Town Like Alice (Neville Shute)
Mutant Message from Down Under by Marlo Morgan (already read)
Bolivia
*I Am a Taxi (Deborah Ellis)
Botswana suggest
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Brazil
*Keeper (Mal Peet)
Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus
Cambodia
The Stones Cry Out: A Cambodian Childhood by Molyda Szymusiak
Canada
Crow Lake
The Other Side of the Bridge (Mary Lawson)
The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
Latitude of Melt (Joan Clark)
Chile
Portrait in Sepia
China
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Congo:
The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)--already read
Croatia
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andriæ
Cuba
*Our Man in Havana (Graham Greene)
DANCING TO “ALMENDRA.” By Mayra Montero.
Egypt
*Napoleon’s Pyramids (William Dietrich)
DOWN THE NILE: Alone in a Fisherman’s Skiff. By Rosemary Mahoney.
Mara, Daughter of the Nile (already read)
England
Black Swan Green (David Mitchell)
France
Chocolat (Joanne Harris)
Germany
The Book Thief
The Nazi Officer's Wife
Greece
Haiti
BROTHER, I’M DYING. By Edwidge Danticat.
Hong Kong
The Language of Threads (Gail Tsukiyama)
Iceland
India
Beneath a Marble Sky (John Shors)
Great Hedge of India : The Search for the Living Barrier That Divided a Nation by Roy Moxham (already read)
Iran
Veil of Roses (Laura Fitgerald)
THE SEPTEMBERS OF SHIRAZ. By Dalia Sofer.
Ireland
An Irish Country Doctor (Patrick Taylor)
Israel
Italy
A Thread of Grade (Mary Doria Russell)
Japan
Kenya
Laos
Libya
IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN. By Hisham Matar.
Lebanon
Morocco
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail (Malika Oufkir)
New Zealand
The Bone People (Keri Hulme)
Nigeria
Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
Norway
OUT STEALING HORSES. By Per Petterson.
Pakistan
Portugal
Alentejo Blue (Monical Ali)
Russia
The Madonnas of Leningrad (Debra Dean)
The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig
Rwanda
Left to Tell: One Woman's Story of Surviving the Rwandan Holocaust. (Imaclee Ilibigiza
Scotland
*My Heart’s in the Lowlands (Liz Curtis Higgs)
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott
Sierra-Leone
LONG WAY GONE: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. By Ishmael Beah.
Somalia
KNOTS. By Nuruddin Farah.
Spain
*The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
Sweden
Switzerland
Tibet/India
Daughter of the Mountains by Louise Rankin (already read)
Turkey
Wales
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn (already read)
Comments
Saturday, November 17, 2007 - <i>Untitled Comment</i>
Posted by hsmomof2
What? For Scotland they didn't recommend reading any Sir Walter Scott?? Rob Roy?
Pls ignore and forgive my outrage if it is supposed to be contemporary fiction. :-)
Edited by hsmomof2 on Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 8:40 PM
Saturday, November 17, 2007 - For Brazil
Posted by TheMonkeyParade
Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus
It was originally written in Portuguese. It is about a Brazilian woman
We briefly discussed this one at the beginning of the school year. Moose had to read it for anthropology.
Monday, November 19, 2007 - Geographic Reading
Posted by Bertie
Isn't it possible to get some reading about Germany that isn't about the Nazi's?
Monday, November 19, 2007 - Geography reading
Posted by Bertie, again
I had a Croatian friend who thought that The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andriæ was the best Novel explaining Croatia (this was while we were working together relocating Bosnian refugees)
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - Geography reading
Posted by Bertie
How about Buddenbrooks, by Thomas Mann for Germany? It's not that I wish to ignore the Holocaust; it's just that defining Germany by the Nazi's is like defining the South by Slavery.
In general, the choices listed tend to favor trauma, but I've long argued that English Majors tend to favor the morbid and depressing.
Speaking of Genocide, have you read any Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)? Maybe: Istanbul : Memories and the City.
Russel's book )Italy) is Grace, not Grade, isn't it? I like the Guido Brunetti Mysteries by Donna Leon for Italy (like The No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency for Botswana, and for many of the same reasons). Although The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi is one of my all time top 10 favorites, and is a really sweet portrait of life by the Po River. It's gone out of print since 1951, though.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by SmallWorld
Thanks, Robert--and just so you know, I did not pick out these books for the most part--they are part of a greater list that I copied and found lacking for the most part....although in my Am Lit class my kids finally asked: why are authors generally depressed and tortured souls?
